New mtb - air fork questions

mickowl

Just got a boardman 8.6mht from halfords. I have got a shock pump and seen how to adjust the air pressure but do i need to wait a while before adjusting with it being new? Does it need a few rides first?

Also how do i know what psi should be in there for my weight? I cant seem to find a chart that tells me. The forks are Suntour Raidon XC LO-R 120mm air adjust.

Thanks in advance

tom_howard

set it up before the first ride.

Put the o-ring to the bottom of the stanchion, get on the bike and stand in the attack position, then get off slowly. that should move the O ring up to give you a sag point. ideally this will be within 25-30% of the total travel. if its more than 30% add air, if its less than 20%, let some out. Once you get within that range, its down to personal preference

mickowl

Cheers, its at 100psi just checked it. Unless im being thick i cant see an 'o ring' ?

tom_howard

should be a black or red rubber ring on one of the legs. no matter if not, just tie a zip tie round it as an indicator then take it off before riding

near the top of the right stanchion as you look at it

Four candles by tom.howard.562, on Flickr

mickowl

Defo isnt one, will have to use a cable tie then. Thanks

mattyfez

Or a rubber band.. Cut it and then tie it round the stanchion...
Just something to see how far the forks dip when you sit on the bike.

Although if it's got 100psi in it will be fine to ride unless you're really heavy or really light, but you really should fine tune it a bit as above.

The Rookie

There is one clearly showing in the photo, right hand stanchion as you look at it, about an inch down from the top.

tom_howard

The Rookie wrote:

There is one clearly showing in the photo, right hand stanchion as you look at it, about an inch down from the top.

thats my fork, used to demonstrate....

The Rookie

Oops...

Lagrange

Mickowl wrote:

Just got a boardman 8.6mht from halfords. I have got a shock pump and seen how to adjust the air pressure but do i need to wait a while before adjusting with it being new? Does it need a few rides first?

Also how do i know what psi should be in there for my weight? I cant seem to find a chart that tells me. The forks are Suntour Raidon XC LO-R 120mm air adjust.

Thanks in advance

In answer - yes you do need to wait. The pressure needs to settle between the chambers. When you pump it just bounce it a couple of times by pushing down hard on the grips. Then re-check the sag and the pressure then do the rebound which is under the right fork leg.

steve_sordy

Target 25% sag and then ride the bike. If you feel that the front is too hard, use the shock pump to bleed some air out to increase the %sag. If it feels too hard, use your shock pump to add more air to reduce the sag. Just connecting the shock pump will lose you some fork pressure. Disconnecting the pump however will NOT lose you any.

Currently I'm riding with 28% sag on the fork. I didn't target that, it just turned out that way.

You probably have other things on your fork that you can adjust. At the very least you will have a Rebound dial or knob that you can use to change the amount of rebound damping. Too little and you will have a pogo stick, too much and although you will get a super smooth ride, once you go down a flight of steps (or trail equivalent), you will end up with no travel left because the shock will not have recovered it's position before it gets another hit. It's called "packing down".

To learn more about how to set up your suspension, here is all you will ever need. It takes you from the basics to way more than you want to know right now.

https://www.bikerumor.com/2014/10/30/bi ... -download/

JBA

Lagrange wrote:

Mickowl wrote:

Just got a boardman 8.6mht from halfords. I have got a shock pump and seen how to adjust the air pressure but do i need to wait a while before adjusting with it being new? Does it need a few rides first?
...

In answer - yes you do need to wait. The pressure needs to settle between the chambers...

That's rubbish. Why would you need to wait?
The pressure should be set before the first ride to get the appropriate sag as Steve Sordy has described. There is no need to do a few rides first.

Lagrange

JBA wrote:

Lagrange wrote:

Mickowl wrote:

Just got a boardman 8.6mht from halfords. I have got a shock pump and seen how to adjust the air pressure but do i need to wait a while before adjusting with it being new? Does it need a few rides first?
...

In answer - yes you do need to wait. The pressure needs to settle between the chambers...

That's rubbish. Why would you need to wait?
The pressure should be set before the first ride to get the appropriate sag as Steve Sordy has described. There is no need to do a few rides first.

Actually you are wrong. And I've said no differently to Steve.

JBA

The OP is asking if he needs to wait until after a few rides before adjusting the fork pressure. The answer to that is ‘no’.